Page "Themistocles" Paragraph 17

Themistocles now developed a second strategy.

The route to southern Greece ( Boeotia, Attica and the Peloponnesus ) would require the army of Xerxes to travel through the very narrow pass of Thermopylae.

This could easily be blocked by the Greek hoplites, despite the overwhelming numbers of Persians ; furthermore, to prevent the Persians bypassing Thermopylae by sea, the Athenian and allied navies could block the straits of Artemisium.

However, after the Tempe debacle, it was uncertain whether the Spartans would be willing to march out from the Peloponnesus again.

In order to persuade the Spartans to defend Attica, Themistocles needed to show them that the Athenians were willing to do everything necessary for the success of the alliance.

In short, the entire Athenian fleet must be dispatched to Artemisium ; in order to do this, every able-bodied Athenian male would be required to man the ships ; and this in turn meant that the Athenians must prepare to abandon Athens.

Persuading the Athenians to take this course was undoubtedly one of the highlights of Themistocles's career.

As Holland has it: " What precise heights of oratory he attained, what stirring and memorable phrases he pronounced, we have no way of knowing ... only by the effect it had on the assembly can we gauge what surely must have been its electric and vivifying quality-for Themistocles ' audacious proposals, when put to the vote, were ratified.

The Athenian people, facing the gravest moment of peril in their history, committed themselves once and for all to the alien element of the sea, and put their faith in a man whose ambitions many had long profoundly dreaded.

" His proposals accepted, Themistocles issued orders for the women and children of Athens to be sent to the city of Troezen, safely inside the Peloponnesus.

He was then able to travel to a meeting of the Allies, at which he proposed his strategy ; with the Athenian fleet fully committed to the defence of Greece, the other Allies accepted his proposals.